After many rounds of negotiation, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) has finally decided to cut the ties with former national team batting coach Thilan Samaraweera with immediate effect, Cricket Age reliably learns.
In December 2018, Samaraweera had been removed from the batting coach position of the Sri Lanka team midway through the New Zealand tour. Later, SLC had appointed Jon Lewis as his successor and put Samaraweera at board’s high performance centre at Kheteragma. Since then, Samaraweera was working under Asanka Gurusinha at SLC’s High Performance Centre (HPC) without any specific assignment.
Cricket Age has the access of SLC Management Committee document, that says that Samaraweera had tendered his resignation. Moreover, during the management committee meeting on Tuesday (May 7), the SLC had also accepted his resignation, which will be effective from November 2019.
However, now in new turn of events, the SLC has decided to disconnect it’s association with Samaraweera with immediate effect. Further, with the end of association, SLC has agreed to pay three months salary to Samaraweera in lieu of notice.
“As per his contract, he has to give 6 months notice period, so that becomes effective in October or November. So, the board played smartly by negotiating to pay 3 months salary and send him immediately instead” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
This will mark the end of an highly unsuccessful association. In November 2017, SLC had hired Samaraweera on order to convince his mentor Chandika Hathurusingha to take over as national Team head coach. Later, both Hathurusingha and Samaraweera got together and took over the control of the national team. Gradually, as there was no functioning cricket board during that period, they knocked out all their possible competitors from the national team setup and became dictators.
While Hathurusingha was drawing six million per month salary, Samaraweera was also milking 2.5 million per month. However, the duo could not produce the results to justify their salaries and Sri Lanka failed miserably especially in shorter formats and slipped even behind Bangladesh.
According to sources, even after being snubbed from batting Coach position of the national team, Samaraweera was continuesly drawing 2.5 million salary without any coaching responsibility. He was going to HPC at Khetterama and sitting entire day.
However, as the recently elected administration led by president Shammi Silva has focused on cost cutting and get rid of non-performers, it meant it was become very difficult for Samaraweera to survive. That’s why, before facing the embarrassing situation of being sacked, he has decided to walk out gracefully!
